By George Mgbeleke

The Senate has reeled out its modest achievements to commemorate its mid-term anniversary at the weekend getting set to carry out key reforms of the country’s electoral regime in preparation for the 2027 general election.

The upper chamber also disclosed that no fewer than 983 bills – both executive and private-members- were introduced between June 13, 2023 and June 12, 2025, 108 of which were fully passed into laws within the timeframe.

The leader of the Senate, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, made these revelations in a statement he released on Sunday to commemorate the mid-term exploits of the country’s foremost legislative institution

The 10th National Assembly, comprising the Senate and House of Representatives, was inaugurated on June 13, 2023, following the election of Senator Godswill Akpabio as the President of the Senate and Rt. Hon. Tajudeen Abbas as the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

The election of the presiding officers also produced Senator Barau I. Jubrin as the Deputy President of the Senate and Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu as the Deputy Speaker House of Representatives, among others.

Reflecting on the senate’s midterm exploits in the first half of the 10th National Assembly on Sunday, Bamidele explained how the institution had leveraged the instrument of strategic engagement to carry out its constitutional mandates, enacting legislations that stabilised the country’s fiscal, monetary and political environments.

He said: “In the 2024/2025 legislative year, for instance, 506 bills were initiated in the Senate alone compared to 477 in 2023/2024. This represents a 6.07% increase. Also, in the 2024/2025 legislative year, the upper chamber fully passed 83 bills into law compared to 25 in the previous legislative year.

“This represents truly a great feat that glaringly accounts for a 232% increase in the number of fully enacted legislations between 2023 and 2025. Against 13 in the 2023/2024 legislative year, the Senate dwelt with 26 executive bills in 2024/2025, invariably indicating a 100% upsurge. This record shows that 464 private member bills were initiated in 2023/2024 compared to 480 in 2024/2025.

“By 2024/2025 legislative year, 89 bills are awaiting first reading in the upper chamber as against 135 in 2024/2025; 45 awaiting second reading in 2023/2024 contrared to 230 in 2024/2025; 215 appointments were confirmed in 2023/2024 compared 116 in 2024/2025 and 50 different petitions successfully resolved in 2023/2024 with 80 duly addressed in 2024/2025.”

Bamidele, specifically, listed some of the 108 bills passed into law to include the National Social Investment Programmes Act, 2023; Student Loan (Access to Higher Education) Act, 2024; National Minimum Wage Amendment Act, 2024; Investments and Securities Act, 2025; Regional Development Commission (Establishment) Acts, 2025 and the Tax Reform Bills, 2025, among others

The senate leader, therefore, discussed the significance of the Student Loan (Access to Higher Education) Act, 2024, which, according to him, redefined access to tertiary education and significantly crashed the number of dropouts across the federation.

As displayed on the dashboard of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, according to Bamidele, 1,094,057 students have applied for the scheme. Of this figure, 563, 279 institutional loans have been granted while 530,773 upkeep loans processed. Without purposeful collaboration, the student loan scheme will not have come through.

He also cited the case of the Tax Reform Bills, 2025, describing its passage as a testament to the resolve of the 10th National Assembly to end the country’s fiscal challenge and carry out far-reaching reforms that would eliminate structural inefficiencies in the country’s tax administration; simply tax obligations for businesses and citizens; boost investors’ confidence in the domestic economy and catalyse monumental growth across all sectors.

As the second half of the 10th National Assembly takes off in earnest, Bamidele assured all Nigerians to look forward to the reforms of the country’s electoral system, review of the 1999 Constitution as well as the reforms of the judiciary, among others, as key priority areas that would receive significant attention.

He noted that the lawmakers would prioritise reforms of the country’s electoral regime “to ensure every vote continues to count; guarantee good governance in the country and make participation in our electoral process more interesting for the decent and innocent citizens.

“When you know that if you contest for an election, your vote will definitely count. This assurance will make democracy more interesting for our people, enhance voters’ participation in the process, and make our electoral process more credible and transparent.

“We are equally looking forward to greater judicial reforms in the next two years to ensure justice is done transparently and tenaciously. We already have various bills that seek the reforms of the judiciary. While some are seeking a review of how judges and judicial officers are appointed, others focus on their length of service and welfare.”